weekend revelations

Here are some things that either 1.) became clear to me or 2.) were confirmed for me over the weekend:

1.) I am seriously lacking skills in the balance department. I was playing a game at youth group on Sunday night with various people where you stand face to face looking at another person and you try to knock each other over just by pushing the palms of your hands against the palms of your opponent's hands. No matter who I played against, I pretty much lost my balance after the first attack. I finally began to hold my own against Travis, until he miscalculated a move and stuck a thumb in each of my eyeballs.

2.) I have a lot of emotional ties to restaurants. On my way home from youth group I made a stop at the drive-thru at Long John Silver's. I have always been a fan of their chicken planks (and consequently, their grease) since the days of going there with my mom. So every now and then I swing by for the nostalgic feel of it. Other places and the people they make me think of: Chick-fil-A (my buddy Danny, the LIFE Group, mine and Anna's realization that food in Heaven would be even better than their original chicken sandwich), Bubbalou's (good times with ULife people), Burger King (sharing chicken sandwiches with my dad when I was little), and Starbucks at Barnes & Noble (Carla and I meet there to catch up when I'm in Tampa).

3.) I miss Cam. He was one of my campers during my first session ever at Circle F. I was at the ranch this past weekend with a church from Windermere, which is where Cam lives, and I found myself hoping he would show up with that church because 1.) it would mean he's hearing the Gospel and 2.) I'd get to see him. Cam and I did not get along at all when we first met. I vividly remember him telling me I was no fun and I thought this kid was going to be a thorn in my side for the rest of that 3 week session. But at some point, things changed and we clicked. I don't remember what the turning point was, but I guess he realized that my being overbearing was really me just caring about them. After that rocky start, seeing Cam walk into the Round Up on opening days became something I anticipated greatly. We got to hang out at camp for 3 additional summers and there were some times when we did not see eye-to-eye, but he has always been one of my favorite campers and one of the ones that made camp worth it for me. I don't really hear from him, but I think he's 16 or 17 and a junior in high school now. The first picture below is from 1999. I'm on the left, he's in the middle and my co-counselor C.J. is on the right.
This picture is from his last summer at camp in 2003. He's on the left and the other guy is Jordan, who was also one of my first campers. Cam and Jordan were inseparable at camp.
4.) I like Sunday afternoon naps a lot.